Fayetteville's Matthew Stonesifer, right, slide into second base as Shippensburg's defense chases down a ball. Post 223 captured a 14-12 victory after a back-and-forth battle. (Ryan Blackwell — Public Opinion)

Shippensburg's Cordell Shannon, background, steps on first base to tag out Trenton Ebersole, of Fayetteville. Ship won 14-12. (Ryan Blackwell — Public Opinion)

FAYETTEVILLE &GT;&GT; It seemed like every time unbeaten Shippensburg chipped away at a deficit in Tuesday's Franklin County American Legion baseball battle, Fayetteville added a couple of runs in response.

Then came the sixth inning. Post 223 finally knotted the score at 12 in the top of the inning, then got itself out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom. Ship used that momentum to score two more runs in the final stanza and claim a wild 14-12 victory.

"Once we brought it back and tied the ballgame, I told the guys that they had come back too far to give up now," Ship manager Bobby Shannon said. "We had been giving them opportunities to retake the lead, but I told them to get me a goose egg in the sixth inning and see what happens. Once you set a team down that is used to scoring in consecutive innings, it changes the whole mindset."

Errors and miscues really hurt Fayetteville (3-3), but its final mistake was the most costly. With Daulton Brenize on second base and one out, Cordell Shannon hit a hard ball to second base that was thrown out of play, giving Brenize an extra base and the winning run.

"We made too many mistakes and gave them too many opportunities to get back in the game," Fayetteville manager Andy Brookens said. "We had the game in our hands at least twice with sizable leads. Hats off to them for never quitting, even though they were down a couple runs. They made us make plays, and we just didn't do it."

Those big leads Brookens mentioned were to the tune of six and seven runs. After the second inning, 'Ville led 7-1 and after the fourth, it held a 12-5 edge.

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"Our mentality as a team is always to keep playing hard through 21 outs," said Brenize, who went 4-for-5 with two RBIs. "My approach is the same every time. I try to hit fastballs, and it mostly worked."

Shippensburg (8-0) was especially successful in the fifth inning. After just having allowed Fayetteville to score five runs and take its largest lead of the game, Shippensburg answered with six of its own.

Cordell Shannon reached on an error and was moved along by a single from Dustin LaBonte before Cole Friese walked to load the bases. Nate Reiner then came up big with a two-RBI double and Nick Jacoby followed with an RBI single. Then Fayetteville's miscues started to take over again — Reiner scored on a passed ball and Jacoby on a wild pitch.

"I just think with the compressed schedule like this, teams are going to run through pitching real quick," Brookens said. "We play four games in a row this week, so if you don't have a guy that goes a complete game, it really taxes the pitchers you have."

Levi Varner was driven in by Brenize's single, and Ship had cut its deficit to just two before the inning's end.

One pitcher who did make a statement was Reiner, who hadn't thrown in a game in more than two years. He tossed three innings, allowing just two runs on three hits, two walks and a strikeout. In the key sixth inning, Reiner elected to intentionally walk Steven Smith to load the bases before getting the final out.

"Smitty is a good hitter, so we wanted to get around him," Reiner said. "It has been two years for me, but I know I have a good defense behind me, and if I threw strikes, we could get the outs. That inning was huge, too, because that gave us the momentum to come back in the seventh inning and close things out."

In a game with 26 runs scored, there are going to be some nice hitting stats. All of Shippensburg's starters and seven of Fayetteville's had a hit. Post 223 was led by Brenize, while Varner also had a heck of a game, notching a single, a double and a triple. LaBonte also went 3-for-5.

Matt Stonesifer was the star of the show for Fayetteville. He went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and two stolen bases. Bryce Fiegl drove in a trio of runs on two singles, while Carlin Christian also went 2-for-4.

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